In RoA3 it was almost impossible to win without a mage (or 2) as the archers in the final fight did 1-6 damage per attack if they were lucky enough to hit, meanwhile a mage could do around 60 damage a cast at that point. In DS I find the melee characters are more powerful and when combined with a summoned ally you can melee down any oponent in either game. I won both with barely casting a single spell except for my elf summoning an animal companion.